


Educated Guesses

by redex_writes



Category: A Way Out (Video Game)
Genre: (for now) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crushes, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Leo and Linda are in an open marriage, Leo is a good dad, Light Angst, M/M, Meet-Cute, Multi, Open Marriage, Open Relationships, also i would die for linda, it isn't the main focus of the fic but it is important
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:02:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29548344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redex_writes/pseuds/redex_writes
Summary: “Excuse me!”Whoever had called out was walking towards him and Leo turned, bracing for a lecture. When he saw the person in question, however, the thought was quickly wiped from his mind.The man approaching him looked nothing like the sort of teacher he’d been expecting. He was nearly the same height as Leo, walking with straight posture and sure strides. He had an immaculately-groomed goatee and stern eyes framed by stylish black glasses, and looked to be around Leo’s age; maybe in his early forties.Leo tried to look aloof as the man walked up to him.“You’re not supposed to be here.”Leo is a proud father, and a husband in a loving open marriage. Vincent is an elementary school teacher, recently divorced, and has never held his baby daughter. They have very little in common aside from a mutual attraction, yet their lives seem to be becoming more and more intertwined--for better or for worse.This is a rewrite of my previous unfinished work titledA Way In.
Relationships: Leo Caruso/Linda Caruso, Leo Caruso/Vincent Moretti
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Educated Guesses

“Really? Again?”

Linda’s reply was nearly drowned out by the sudden shriek of a drill nearby, and Leo grimaced and pressed the phone closer to his ear as he strained to hear her.

_“I know, I know; four days in a row is a lot. But you know that they’re just gonna stick him in the nurse’s office, and that’s not going to help anything.”_

Leo sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah, I know. I’ll have to have a talk with him later.”

_“It’s been hard for him,”_ Linda said, and Leo could hear the concern in his voice. _“You know how he was before, but I think things with the other kids have been worse this year.”_

“He told you that?”

_“Not outright, but my momma bear instincts won’t shut up about it.”_

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. I’ll let Ray know and head up to the school as soon as I can.”

_“Thank you,”_ Linda said softly. _“I would go, but I really can’t get away from the shop right now.”_

“I know, don’t worry.” Leo grinned. “He’s my kid too, you know.”

Linda laughed.

_“You’ll need to sign in with the secretary when you get there. They’ll take you to the nurse’s office from there.”_

“Got it.”

_“I love you, Leo.”_

“Love you too.”

The line clicked as Linda hung up, and Leo pocketed his phone. He took a moment to rub his freezing hands together to warm them up a bit, then slipped his gloves back on and went to look for Ray.

When he found him, the foreman was yelling at one of the new hires, who looked on the verge of tears. Leo grimaced; Ray was obviously in a mood, and that wasn’t what he needed right now.

When he noticed Leo standing there, Ray’s eyes narrowed. He dismissed the kid, who scurried away in relief, before turning to Leo with his arms crossed.

“You hit a water line or something, Caruso? Get back to work.”

“I need to call it in early, Ray. Something came up at Alex’s school and I gotta go pick him up.”

Ray scoffed. “Yeah? And what makes you think you can just prance on out of here?”

Leo crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Because you owe me.”

“I don’t owe you shit.”

Leo just raised an eyebrow, wordlessly calling his bluff. 

They stared each other down for a few moments before Ray cursed under his breath and waved him away.

“Fine, get out of my sight. But you’d better be here at seven a.m. sharp tomorrow, or it’s your ass.”

“Whatever you say _boss_ ,” Leo mocked, turning and stalking away before Ray could tear him a new one for his tone.

The ride from the construction site to Alex’s elementary school was a fairly short one, and soon Leo was pulling into the parking lot. Remembering what Linda had said, he made his way to the seemingly vacant front desk.

“Hello?” he called, but was met with no answer. He craned his neck to try and see into the office area behind the desk, but there was no sign of anyone anywhere.

He waited for a few minutes, hands stuffed in his pockets to keep from fidgeting. Leo wasn’t a patient man on a good day, and he knew that Alex was probably sitting alone in the nurse’s office, hiding out from those snot-nosed brats he called classmates. Making up his mind, he glanced around once more before heading down the hallway.

It took Leo a moment before he realized that he had no idea where he was going. He’d been to Alex’s school a few times for parent-teacher meetings, but he wasn’t intimately familiar with the place, and it only got more confusing the further he walked. Deciding to just wander around until he found something, he kept his eyes peeled for some sort of sign he was going in the right direction.

“Excuse me!”

Leo froze. He felt stupid at the sinking feeling in his gut--he was a grown ass adult, but something about the “teacher voice” had some sort of Pavlovian effect on him, making him feel like he was about to be in trouble.

Whoever had called out was walking towards him and Leo turned, bracing for a lecture. When he saw the person in question, however, the thought was quickly wiped from his mind.

The man approaching him looked nothing like the sort of teacher he’d been expecting. He was nearly the same height as Leo, walking with straight posture and sure strides. He had an immaculately-groomed goatee and stern eyes framed by stylish black glasses, and looked to be around Leo’s age; maybe in his early forties. 

Leo tried to look aloof as the man walked up to him.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

It was a short statement that left no room for debate. Leo shrugged.

“Sorry. There was no one at the front desk, and I need to pick up my kid.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “There’s a reason we make visitors check in, you know. We can’t just have people wandering around the school.”

“Well, maybe your secretaries should be doing their jobs,” Leo shot back, then bit his tongue--the last thing he needed right now was to piss this guy off.

He was surprised when he caught the faintest twitch of the man’s lips, giving away his attempt to stifle a smile.

“I’m assuming you’re looking for the nurse’s office?” he asked. Leo nodded.

“My son’s not feeling well and his mom couldn’t make it, so I’m here to take him home.”

The man sighed. “Well, I get why you wouldn’t want to wait for too long. Tell you what--I’ll take you down to the nurse’s office, then get your info and log your visit myself later.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They walked down the hallway in silence. Class must have been in session; there was no one around, and their footsteps echoed slightly off of the small half-lockers lining the walls. Leo snuck a glance to his right, subtly eyeing the man beside him. He was definitely a teacher--he was dressed smartly in a brown jacket and patterned button-down, and upon further inspection Leo saw that he had an enamel pin on his lapel: a worm in glasses coming out of an apple. He smirked to himself--it was undeniably cheesy, but somehow seemed to suit the guy.

“We’re here,” he said suddenly, and Leo looked up to see the nurse’s office sign. 

He poked his head inside and saw Alex sitting cross-legged on one of the cots, picking at his dirty shoelaces. 

He looked up when Leo walked over, looking surprised and a little guilty.

“Hey, buddy,” said Leo. Alex looked away.

“Hi Dad,” he mumbled. He’d probably been expecting Linda, and Leo wondered if he thought he was going to get chewed out.

“Your mom tells me you’re not feeling well again.”

Alex nibbled his lip. “Yeah.”

“Well then” Leo said with a small smile, “we’d better get you home.”

Alex still didn’t look up at him. “Okay.”

He slid off the cot and grabbed his sweater and backpack, putting them on and crossing his arms over his chest. Leo looked back at the teacher standing in the doorway.

“Thanks,” he said. The man nodded with a polite smile.

“Of course.” He looked down at Alex, who was chewing on the cuff of his sleeve. “Feel better soon.”

“Thanks,” Alex mumbled without looking up. He walked out of the room, staring at the ground.

Leo started to follow, but stopped short when he remembered something. He turned back to the teacher.

“So, uh. You were gonna ‘log my visit’ or something?”

“Ah, right.”

The teacher reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pen. Leo raised an eyebrow, and the man laughed a bit at his expression.

“When you’ve been an elementary school teacher as long as I have, you pick up some habits.”

He looked around the room before grabbing a piece of paper from the nurse’s desk and scribbling down the date and time. He looked up at Leo, dark eyes peering up at him over the rims of his glasses.

“Name?”

“Oh--uh, Leo. Leo Caruso.”

The man nodded, writing it down before handing Leo the pen. “Signature, please.”

Leo signed and handed the paper back to the teacher. He folded and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

“I’ll scan this into the system. Next time, though, I would appreciate it if you followed standard sign-in procedure.” 

His tone lacked disapproval, and Leo grinned.

“No promises.”

The man laughed. He shot Leo one last charming smile and waved before turning and walking out, disappearing down the hall and around a corner.

Alex was leaning against the wall just outside the room, still chewing on the cuff of his sleeve. Leo gently nudged his shoulder.

“Ready to go?”

They didn’t talk for the duration of the ride home, Alex curled up in his seat and staring out of the frosty window until they pulled into the trailer park. As soon as the car stopped in front of their house, he opened the door and sped inside without a word. Leo sighed and grabbed his backpack he’d left in the passenger seat before following him.

Alex was already curled up in his bed, facing away from the door. Leo set the backpack down and walked over, sitting carefully on the bed beside him. Alex didn’t stir; just laid there with his face buried in the pillow hugged to his chest.

“So. You wanna tell me what happened?”

He didn’t answer. Leo gave him a few moments before trying again.

“Alex.”

“Nothing happened,” Alex snapped, voice muffled by the pillow. “I just don’t feel good.”

“C’mon, bud. You and I both know that’s not true.”

Alex ignored him. Leo waited, but it seemed like he was done talking for now. He sighed and stood, walking to the door.

“Daddy?”

Leo stopped in the doorway and turned. Alex rolled over, still hugging the pillow, and looked up at him.

“When can we go back to our real house?”

Leo felt his throat tighten. He forced a small smile.

“Soon, buddy. Your mom and I just need to fix some things up, and then we can go back. Maybe we can even get a nicer house than before, huh?”

“I don’t care,” Alex mumbled. “Just wanna live in a real house.”

Leo swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away, grasping the door handle.

“Get some rest. Mommy will be home in a few hours.”

He gently closed the door behind him before leaning against it and letting out a long sigh. His eyes fell on the kitchen table, then dropped to the pile of envelopes stuffed under one of the chair cushions. The growing stack was a testament to Leo’s own failure, but now it was affecting Alex at school…

He grit his teeth, trying to push away his guilt.

He walked out to the deck, pulling his denim jacket tighter around him against the chill of the winter air. He leaned against the railing and pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to Linda to tell her they were home, then pocketed it again and let his gaze trail over the lot.

For some reason, as his thoughts wandered, he found himself thinking about the teacher from earlier. It caught him a little off guard--Leo met attractive men as often as anyone else; even dated them occasionally as per the boundaries he and Linda had set from the start of their relationship. Yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about this particular teacher he’d spoken to for all of five minutes in the halls of his son’s school. He couldn’t stop thinking about how his glasses perfectly framed his warm brown eyes, or the way his mouth twitched to hide a smile.

He sighed, shaking his head, and headed back indoors.

Linda got home later in the afternoon, smeared with grease and carrying a grocery bag. She pecked Leo on the cheek, making sure not to touch him--”I have so much gunk on me right now that I could cause an environmental disaster”--and handed him the bag.

“Some stuff for dinner,” she said. “I figured we could make tacos, and I got some ice cream sandwiches for dessert.”

Leo took the bag, glancing inside for himself before looking back up at her.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Linda smiled, her eyes sad.

“I figured. I just thought that some of his favourites might cheer him up a little.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Leo smiled and playfully kicked her foot. “Go shower. You smell like a junkyard.”

Linda crossed her arms and smirked. “At least I haven’t been walking around with a mustard stain on my shirt.”

Leo glanced down, and she immediately flicked him on the nose.

“Hey!”

She laughed, pecking him on the lips and dancing out of the way before he could flick her back. “Sorry babe, shower time!”

“I’ll get you back for that!” Leo yelled after her, met with only muffled laughter as the bathroom door slammed shut. He grinned, shaking his head, and started on dinner.

The tacos didn’t take long to prep, and the scent of cooking food was enough to draw Alex out of his bedroom. He took a seat at the table for a few minutes, then eventually sidled up beside Leo to watch him cook. Leo didn’t look at him--an upset Ale was something akin to a frightened animal--but when he saw him start to fidget out of the corner of his eye, he smiled to himself.

“Hey, do you think you could give me a hand with dinner?”

Alex perked up, obviously trying not to look excited. “Okay.”

By the time Linda came back out, wet hair tied back and dressed in clean clothes, Leo and Alex were chatting away as Leo chopped the vegetables that Alex was washing and handing to him. Leo caught her eye; she was smiling softly, a fondness in her gaze that was reserved for the two of them. He grinned at her before turning back to the stove, ruffling Alex’s hair.

“Great job, bud. It looks awesome.”

The three of them dished up their food and sat at the tiny table, falling into easy conversation about their days. Linda regaled them with a story about an eccentric client who’d come in to get his bike fixed. Alex chattered excitedly about the winter break, and who he might get for a teacher next semester. He almost shot through the roof when Linda brought out the surprise ice cream sandwiches, and when Leo shoved his into his mouth whole and tried to talk, Alex laughed until he shot water out of his nose.

The pile of bills under Leo’s chair were forgotten, if only for a short while.

It was Alex’s bedtime when Leo decided to breach the subject again.

“Are you ready to tell me what happened at school today?”

Alex fell silent. He’d just gotten into bed, and had been watching Leo peruse the bookshelf in search of a bedtime story. Leo waited, pretending to study the titles of the well-worn books.

There was a long silence before he heard Alex shuffling in his bed. Then, in a muffled voice, he finally spoke up.

“I’m gonna get beat up.”

Leo’s eyebrows shot up, and he turned to look at Alex; his head was down, and he was hugging his knees. Leo moved to sit on the bed, and Alex immediately leaned against him.

“Why do you say that?” Leo asked, barely managing to keep the waver out of his voice. Alex sniffed, burrowing deeper into Leo’s side as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“A kid in my class told me he’s gonna beat me up on Monday.” Alex lifted his head and wiped his wet face on his sleeve. “I don’t know why he doesn’t like me. He keeps calling me stupid cause I can’t read good, and--”

He cut himself off, tensing against Leo’s side. Leo frowned, looking down and making Alex meet his eyes.

“And what? What else, Alex?”

Alex deflated, staring down at the carpet as fresh tears brimmed in his eyes.

“He said that...that it’s no wonder my daddy’s so broke, if he’s half as stupid as me.”

Leo’s stomach sank to his knees. Alex looked up quickly.

“I didn’t wanna tell you, because I know you’re not stupid and that you and Mommy are trying really hard, and he’s just being a jerk for no reason and I gotta not let it get to me but--”

Leo cut him off with a big hug, squeezing him tight.

“Alex, you don’t ever need to be afraid to tell me or Mommy anything, okay?” He pulled back, looking at Alex seriously. “We love you more than anything in the world, no matter what any bully says.”

Alex’s lip quivered, and he buried his face in Leo’s chest. Leo rubbed his back, swallowing hard to keep his voice steady.

“And it’s okay to be upset. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, I promise.” He kissed the top of Alex’s head.

“Okay,” Alex mumbled. 

He stayed cuddled against Leo for a few minutes before pulling away, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Leo quickly grabbed a tissue from his nightstand and handed that to him instead.

“Tell you what--how about on Monday you find out what teacher you have next semester, and you go ask them about getting some extra reading help?”

Alex hesitated. “But...does that mean I really am stupid?”

“No. Absolutely not,” Leo said firmly, rubbing Alex’s shoulder. “Sometimes everyone needs a little bit of a hand here and there, and that’s okay.”

Alex thought for a moment before slowly nodding. “Okay...yeah, okay. I can do that.”

Leo grinned and ruffled his hair. “‘Atta boy. Soon, maybe you’ll be reading a bedtime story to me.”

Alex pouted. “But you always do the fun voices.”

Leo laughed. “That’s true. I suppose we can leave the bedtime stories to me for a little while longer.”

Alex grinned up at him, and in that moment Leo knew that he would do anything to keep that smile on his son’s face forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my second attempt at writing the first fic that I did for this fandom. I decided to rewrite it after realizing that I had strayed completely from where I’d originally wanted to take it. I now have a more structured plot and better planned chapters, so I’m hoping this time’s the charm!
> 
> I hope you’re having a lovely day, or at least an okay one. Take care of yourself!


End file.
